What is good and bad cholesterol? Should you remove fat from your diet? And what about shellfish? Experts explain it all
igh cholesterol can cause heart problems and strokes – but levels can creep up without showing any symptoms. This is why, if you’re over 40, you should be getting your cholesterol checked every five years. It’s a simple enough concept, but, like alcohol and other things that could be slowly, invisibly damaging our bodies, cholesterol can feel a little abstract, hovering in the background less urgently than everything in the foreground of a busy life.
It might help to think of your circulatory system as a washing machine, he says. “If you have a lot of hard water, there’s a high risk of your washing machine getting a blockage.” When it comes to high levels of bad cholesterol, blockages can cause cardiovascular disease and could result in heart attacks and strokes. “The lifetime exposure is what damages the vessels over time,” Mayr adds.
“What has been shown in numerous studies is that if you lower your bad cholesterol,” says Mayr, “you reduce cardiovascular events.”The NHS advises five-yearly checks for those aged 40-74, with annual health checks for people 75 and over, says McGrath. “But if there are concerns over family history of heart disease, or if you’re suffering with angina-type chest pain, anyone is entitled to ask their GP for a check.
Exercise works wonders for that all-important cholesterol ratio by decreasing LDL and increasing HDL. And a healthy diet not only affects how much fat is floating around your blood, but it also helps the liver clear more LDL cholesterol. “On the surface of the liver you have LDL receptors, which are responsible for the metabolism of cholesterol,” says McGrath. “And you want a lot of these, so there are more to receive the bad cholesterol.
Parker says that generally, “when you’re asking people to make changes to their diet, we get them to come back in three months and see what the effect is on their cholesterol levels. It’s hard for a lot of people, but small, simple changes make a big difference. Those healthy swaps.
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